Photographers…stop being a**holes

Photographers. The person with a camera that will make or break your session/wedding/bank account.

But on the flipside of that coin, they are also a bunch of assholes. There. I said it. Oh boy! Here’s this little known wedding photographer from Tampa that is going to open her mouth. Yep 🙂

And this is why.

Over the last few weeks, I’ve watched multiple photographers make Facebook statuses about how they’ve reached out to another photographers to book a session/wedding. This is a photographer that is reaching out to another photographer because they love their work, they respect their work and they are willing to pay MONEY to be in front of their camera. That should be one of the highest compliments that a photographer can get. But you know what is happening? These “rock star” photographers aren’t answering emails back. WTactualF?! Why? Give me one good legit reason why you, a well respected photographer in the LARGE sea of photographers, shouldn’t email someone back?

There isn’t one.

Well maybe there is. Maybe they have gotten to the point where they think they are above someone? Maybe they have gotten to the point where they think they no longer need the work. If the latter is the case, then don’t shoot anyone but in reality, I really don’t think that’s the reason.

Photographers (not all) get to this point where they think they are above everyone. Any photographer that emails/messages them, wants their secrets, wants to know what makes them tick. PUHlease! Not everyone is out to steal your secrets, which come on, it’s not like secrets can’t be found out with a crapton of trial and error so what are you really hiding from people? These photographers are usually known as the “rock stars”. They skyrocketed to stardom and forget where they came from. I used to want to be one of those rock stars. Booking clients left and right, viral images all over the place, clients that don’t blink twice about pricing but you know what? I refuse to be one of those photographers. I love helping other photographers and I love the fact that other photographers contact me to shoot them. I don’t care how “big” I ever made it, that is one of the coolest feelings in the world!

5-6 years ago when I started this whole journey, there were a handful of photographers that I was close with. Some rose to the rock star level and some didn’t (raises hand). Those photographers are now the ones that raise an eyebrow when they see others that aren’t in their clique’, not return emails when contacted to shoot and most of all, think they are above others. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a dog eat dog world in the photography world but we all need those that we can count on, that we can lean on, that will ask us to shoot them or vise versa. Ranting to spouses/family about what is going on in the photographer world is pretty useless and almost always will get a bunch of head nods just so it seems like they are paying attention. You need those friends that will understand exactly what you are going through. Turning into an a**hole photographer is a surefire way to get you on that list of photographers people don’t want to talk to. You get that reputation of being hard to reach, we aren’t lining your pockets with workshop money so you won’t give others the time of day. STOP IT!! You were once that photographer on the bottom of the monopod so just freakin’ stop it. You are no better than anyone else with a camera in their hands.

We all started somewhere right? I mean we all weren’t born with a silver camera in our hands or maybe some where but this photographer wasn’t. If it wasn’t for the handful of photographers that I’m friends with, it would be a lonely world out there. Don’t ever look down on someone because they do things differently with their clients or they shoot different than you do. If we were all the same, it would be a very boring world.

So the next time you get an email from another photographer, don’t assume that they want all your secrets. They want to connect. They want to give you money for a session/wedding so don’t ignore them. If you don’t want to give out information, be nice about it. While it sucks to reach out to a photographer and get shot down, getting a response back is even better.

2 Responses to “Photographers…stop being a**holes”

Well said Lisa. I hope you remember when I said "the only place you can buy a Lisa Otto photograph is from Lisa Otto" each of us is unique and there are NO SECRETS. Being open and friendly toward other photographers will connect you to the only people who can understand and truly appreciate what you do.